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Butternut Squash Posole with Green Tomato Pico de Gallo

by:
October  4, 2011
4.5
2 Ratings
  • Serves 6
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Ingredients
  • For the pico de gallo
  • 2 green tomatoes, small dice, about 1 cup
  • 1/3 cup red onion, peeled and finely diced
  • 1 tablespoon cilantro, minced
  • 1 garlic clove, peeled, trimmed and minced
  • 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely diced
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
  • For the posole
  • 1 onion, peeled, trimmed and small dice
  • 1 poblano pepper, seed, cored and small dice
  • 3 garlic cloves, peeled, trimmed and minced
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 2 teaspoons coarsely ground Mexican oregano
  • 3 tablespoons red chile paste (see step one of the directions))
  • 15 oz. can tomato sauce
  • 1 1/2 cups butternut squash, cubed into 1/2 pieces
  • 1 1/2 cups canned white hominy
  • 1 tablespoon cilantro, chopped
  • kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
Directions
  1. To make the chile paste place 3 dried and seeded new mexico peppers and 3 ancho peppers stemmed and seeded into a bowl of hot water. Make sure the peppers stay submerged. They need to soak for at least an hour. Process the chiles in a food processor adding about 2 tablespoons of the soaking liquid. Process till smooth. Pass the paste through a coarse strainer set over a bowl by using a rubber spatula to push it through by rubbing the spatula back and forth. This will to remove any skins and leave you with about 1/3 of a cup of chile paste that will store nicely in the fridge.
  2. Place a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add a glug of oil to coat the pan. Add the onions and poblano. Season them with a two finger pinch of salt, some fresh ground pepper and sweat them till soft.
  3. Add the garlic, Mexican oregano and the cumin. Saute until it is fragrant then add the chile paste and cook it for a minute before adding the tomato sauce and 1 cup of water. Bring the pot to a boil.
  4. Add the squash which will stop the boil. Bring the pot to a boil again and this time reduce the heat to a simmer. Just as the squash is becoming tender add the hominy and cilantro. Stir the pot, taste and adjust the seasoning. When it is hot serve garnished with the salsa.
  5. To make the salsa: While the squash is cooking combine combine all the salsa ingredients in a mixing bowl and stir with a spoon. Season with salt and pepper, taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary.
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13 Reviews

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Mary S. October 26, 2020
This was great. Since I was cooking for a salt free friend, no salt added - or frankly needed. Once all of the aromatics were happy, I used a stick blender to puree the soup before adding the squash and hominy. A quart of stock was added and needed. Delicious !
Mary S. October 26, 2020
This was great. Since I was cooking for a salt free friend, no salt added - or frankly needed. Once all of the aromatics were happy, I used a stick blender to puree the soup before adding the squash and posole. A quart of stock was added and needed. Delicious !
dollum February 19, 2012
We have enjoyed this meal in many ways given what was on hand or easily found but never with that chill paste because I couldn't find the ingredients. It has always been dee-lish, especially, since we are carnivores, with chorizo in the mix. Since I could not find ancho peppers anywhere, I finally located and dried some poblanos myself (so there!) and made that chile paste yesterday. Oh goodness -- big, wonderful, tasty, worth it diff!
Neering February 11, 2012
I"m so happy to have a veggie version of this. I love making the chile paste from scratch, it is so flavorful and will come in handy for other recipes. I did save about a cup of the chile liquid(in addition to the water) to add to the stew towards the end of cooking as I thought it had thickened too much for my taste. I also used dry hominy I had pre-cooked instead of canned. I loved this and will be making it again.

(BTW, I think diced tomatoes in place of one of the cans of tomato sauce would work to dilute the mixture a little more.)
Silvia_Cooks December 14, 2011
You can always get the premade chili paste at the Asian stores. Just as delicious and wayyyy less work! :)
SKK December 14, 2011
Premade anything is avilable, and it is so easy to make your own. Making your own, in my experience, is more flavorful and cheaper. In this recipe I use Tom's recipe and it is easy to make more for later.
jblock October 22, 2011
If one is the type to want to substitute ready made chili paste, any suggestions? (Yes, I am the type!)
labingha October 14, 2011
Made this last night. Wondering if a possible modification might be to replace tomato sauce with diced tomatoes and replace the one cup of water with two cups of vegetable or chicken broth; for my family, the tomato sauce and small amount of water made a stew that was too thick for our taste.
boulangere October 10, 2011
Just finished a bowl of this. Divine.
boulangere October 10, 2011
That red chile paste is the bomb. We're going to start keeping it on hand as one of our staple condiments. Because, you see, we didn't have a drop left over.
pat_wendt October 9, 2011
I'm also wondering where to find the directions for making the red chile paste. P.S. This version of posole looks great & I really appreciate that it's meatless. Pat W.
thirschfeld October 9, 2011
The first step to the recipe above says, to make the chile paste and will take you through the steps. Sorry for any confusion.
SKK October 7, 2011
Where do I go to find the red chili paste? This recipe is saved for next week, Tom.